


Blindsided

by dutiesofcare



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Aliens, Darkness, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 09:15:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10636854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutiesofcare/pseuds/dutiesofcare
Summary: "Everything was dark. She opened and closed her eyes several times, hoping they were only having a hard time adjusting to the light, or the lack of it, that surrounded her. Everything remained dark."Clara is separated from the Doctor and finds herself in a very literally dark situation.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello y'all. I got this idea off a dream and couldn't settle until I put it down in words. This is rated T for some little angst but unless you're afraid of the dark, there isn't any trigger warning. Enjoy :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the major characters.

She didn't know where she was.

Everything was dark. She opened and closed her eyes several times, hoping they were only having a hard time adjusting to the light, or the lack of it, that surrounded her. Everything remained dark.

Everything was silent.

She could hear her own heavy breathing, as if her body was trying to warn her about the danger her eyes weren't aware of. Her pulse was unsteady, and she could feel the blood vividly running through her veins.

Her mind was screaming fear.

Her whole body was sore, but she knew she had to move. Slowly and letting cried whispers escape her lips, she managed to sit down, so she could check with her hands if her limps were still attached to her.

Luckily, they were.

She couldn't remember anything that had happened in the past few hours. Her last memories were of the Doctor picking her up on Earth and two seconds later them popping up at some random planet, one that she had never been to before.

_The Doctor._

For the first time, she started to panic. The Doctor wasn't with her, and that made her even more scared. Not only because she feared being forgotten in that dark room, she feared _for_ him, because if they had gotten to her, they could have gotten to him too. And for being the last of this kind and the savior of worlds, she could only imagine the kind of treatment a devious species would put him through.

And she knew he would willingly give up his life if it meant saving hers.

She had to get up. She needed to find a way out of there, wherever _there_ was. She wondered where she was, what species habited that planet and especially, why they needed so little light, perhaps no light at all. Didn't they have a sun? Was the darkness a way to protect themselves? Were they blind? Were they such a primitive species that didn't know yet the concept of light?

Or maybe, just maybe, she was thrown in a deep dark pit in the ground.

Carefully, she dragged herself across the floor, until she found the nearest wall, so she could lean against it while trying to stand. Once up, she was afraid to take the first step, not knowing what obstacles laid ahead of her. For the first time in her life, she realized how much she actually relied on her sight.

But she couldn't give up, not just yet.

Always with a hand against the concrete wall, whilst another hung lose in front of her, just to make sure she wouldn't come across anything that threatened her way, she started to walk. Her steps were uncertain, a new adventure every step she took. For all she knew, the next one could easily lead her into an unending hole.

She couldn't die. She was barely thirty years old.

She wanted to call out for the Doctor, he always showed up when she called for him, but her voice was stuck in her throat. She kept biting her lower lip, as she had an habit of whenever she was anxious or nervous.

_Or scared._

After walking for what seemed miles, her left hand touched some cold piece of metal. She wrapped her fingers around it and it didn't take her much to realize where she was. She was behind bars.

Then, she really started to panic.

She ran her hands by every pole, until she hit the wall at the other side of the room. Her heart was racing. She couldn't get out, she was stuck in a jail somewhere in some place in some planet in some galaxy and there was nothing she could do.

Except wait for him.

"Hello?" she cried out, in the hope anyone anywhere would be listening. And she waited for any kind of answer, but the lack of it couldn't mean anything good. She tried out again: "Is anybody there?"

She still got nothing.

"Doctor? Where's the Doctor? What have you done to him?" she kept trying, in the hope that something she said would make them come for her. Maybe there were deaf as well, and she was simply left to rot in that jail cell.

A lonely tear ran down her cheek.

She took a few steps back, without using anything for guidance, even if there were no guarantee of what was laying around her. She closed her fists tightly, taking long breaths to ease her down. Her eyes remained wild open.

Even if there were nothing but darkness before them.

"I'm Clara Oswald" her voice started as a whisper, but quickly took life of its own. "I'm Clara Oswald, I've traveled the stars and I've seen things not many people have had the opportunity to see. I've seen planets die, I've seen civilizations come to an end, I've seen kingdoms fall and reigns be born. So trust me when I say one thing: I am not afraid of you"

But she was afraid of what they might do to her.

"So if you want to try and break me? Go ahead. But there's a little warning, I may be small but I'm very tough, and I can take a high level of pain. But if you want to hurt me, _break me,_ anyway? Well, then just be aware that when the Doctor finds me, finds _you_ , he will end you. So if I were you, I'd think twice before laying a finger on me"

Everything remained silent.

She fell down on her knees, trying her best to stabilize her breathing. She hid her face in her hands, the stream of tears wetting her palms, only then giving her the knowledge that she was crying. Her mind was giving in to fear, as much as she tried to remain strong.

Because, for her, crying was a sign of weakness.

And weakness was a sign of vulnerability.

And vulnerability was an open door for them to break her.

She hated feeling so scared. She was no more than a powerless girl stuck in a room with no way out and as clever as she had been previously to find her way out of dangerous situations, she couldn't bargain for her life if there was no one to bargain to.

She had been dumped like trash.

At least she appeared to have been. She didn't know what had happened to her, she couldn't remember, nonetheless there were no way of foreshadowing what were their plans for her, if they had any. Either way made her fear for her life. She could starve her way to death or she could die in the hands of her captors, whoever they were.

After all the aliens she had defeated, there was a long list of those seeking revenge.

Her hands trembled at the thought of the future that laid ahead of her. A desperate and loud sob escaped her lips, as if she didn't care anymore that her kidnappers saw the weakness on her. She had never been good on hiding her emotions, and it all came like a tsunami on her. She kept waiting and hoping for the TARDIS to magically materialize itself in front of her and save her from that nightmare.

A nightmare she was trapped in with no way out.

She let her body collapse to the hard cold floor, not having any encouragement to keep exploring the place. She didn't have any strength left inside of her, as much as it wasn't like her to give up that easily. A single tear slid from one of her eyes to the other, until it fell it the ground.

She just wanted to go home.

Clara closed her eyes, not that it made any difference, but it made her slightly better. She wrapped her arms around her body, her knees up to her chest and she allowed herself to lie still until some kind of hope would come to her again.


	2. Chapter Two

_A few hours before._

"So, where are we going?" Clara Oswald asked as she hopped inside the time machine parked inside of her closet.

The Doctor looked up to her from behind the console. "Somewhere beautiful."

She closed the door behind her, the corner of her lips turning into a slight smile. "Aren't all places beautiful, Doctor?"

"Oh, you're such a romantic," he mocked her, before walking towards the place where she stood. "But no, Clara, not _all_ places in the universe are pretty."

Her face turned into a frown. "Why don't you ever take me to those places?"

He rose an eyebrow at her. "Haven't you seen enough ugliness in your life, already?"

She shrugged. "Guess so," she mumbled, but it took her only a few seconds to snap out of her sorrow, running towards the console where he was standing. "Well, where are you taking me, then?"

He rushed to her side. "Somewhere beautifu,l" he repeated, pushing and pressing all kinds of buttons that Clara was pretty sure didn't have any purpose except to show him off. "Somewhere you've never been before,"

Clara held tight to the console, as the TARDIS began to shake her way through the time vortex. She had no other alternative but to shout: "Why don't you ever tell me where we're going?"

Abruptly, the time machine landed, and he gave her a smirk, smiling with his eyes. "Where's the fun in that?"

Clara felt the Doctor wrap his fingers around hers, pulling her towards the door. They locked eyes for a brief second, before finally stepping out of the TARDIS. "Welcome to Grantlera!"

Amazed, Clara started to explore her surroundings, still feeling the Doctor's gaze upon her. Her lips opened in a full smile, appreciating all the wonder around her. "What is this place?"

With a click of fingers, he closed the doors of his spaceship. "Oh, this is nothing but the biggest fair in the universe!" he exclaimed with a glow, as excited as she was. "I haven't been here since I was a baby – barely 200 years old. People from all over the galaxy come over to this fair that occupies nothing less than the entire planet!"

Listening carefully to his words, she started to wander off, the Doctor always one step behind her. "I don't see any humans."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Well, Clara, don't be so naïve. This is way behind the point where the humans start to develop technology enough to travel the stars."

Clara turned to face, giving him a smirk. "Does this mean I am the first human to ever step in Grantlera?"

He gave her a face. "It's not such a big deal. There's always a first person to stand in a new planet."

She frowned her eyebrows. "Oi, don't ruin my moment."

But as much as he seemed annoyed in the outside, he actually found very cute how excited she got over silly little things. He leaned to grab her hand once again. "Come on, let's show you off."

Although he was the one with local knowledge, Clara was the one guiding him, running through all those tends filled with all kinds of things from all kinds of creatures that she couldn't tell where from. She giggled in joy, looking at all the unique faces. "What do they sell here?"

"Everything," he explained. "People bring all sorts of treats from their home planet, food, pets, toys, everything they assume other civilizations might be interested in."

"So, if I find a dog amusing, I could bring it here and sell it?"

"Of course not. Dogs didn't first come from Earth, they have their own planet, in which they developed way faster than on Earth. If you brought a dog here, the Doglings would mostly haunt you down for slavery."

Clara turned dead on her tracks. "If dogs didn't come from Earth, then how did end up there?"

The Doctor squealed to himself, remembering the one time one of his previous reincarnations had been feeling lonely and thought to himself it would be fun to introduce those creatures to the very beginning of the human race. "I was very, very bored."

Clara laughed, finally releasing the grip of his hand, so she could run off towards one tend with some very appealing fruits – or whatever they might have been. "Doctor?! What are those?"

He walked up to her. "Oh, the wonders from the galaxy of Malahauwa. They're pretty tasteful," he said, grabbing one of the bright purpled fruit and taking a bite.

Clara leaned upon him, whispering, "Aren't we supposed to pay before eating, Doctor?"

The man twisted his shoulders. "I don't have no money," he confessed, with the slightest grin. "Plus, everybody pays a high price if they want to enter the planet, after that they're allowed to consume anything they want from the fair. The money gets divided between every salesperson they have here."

Her face remained perfectly still. "We _still_ didn't pay, Doctor."

He threw his hands at the air. "Like I said, I've got no money!"

The Doctor started waking on about, leaving Clara to shyly grab one of the fruits while shooting the creature a faint smile. Then she found her way back to the Doctor. "So, what else is there to see here?"

"Oh!" he suddenly shouted like an excited child. "I know _exactly_ what you want to see next."

With the excitement running through her veins, she let him guide her through the amount of people, pushing their way through. They ran for almost three minutes, until the Doctor stopped her. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," she replied in a short breath.

"Okay, what you're about to see…. There's no such a thing anywhere else in the whole universe. This, brought here by the people of Peletra…" he made sure to add the suspense to his voice, "…is the biggest collection of rocks in the whole universe!"

Clara didn't know whether to laugh or snap at him. She chose to give him the face. "Really?! You've got me running here to see a collection of _rocks_?!"

The Doctor took a step back, not quite getting her point. "It's a very pretty collection, Clara. You won't find one anywhere else."

"There are rocks on _Earth,_ Doctor," she spatted, her eyes doing that thing he absolutely couldn't stand. "I think when you said this was something I'd like to see, you were talking about yourself."

"But it's the biggest collection of rocks in the universe…!" he exclaimed for what seemed the third time, his voice begging her to let him do what he wanted.

She couldn't help herself but to give him that. "Tell you what, Doctor, feel free to appreciate that _collection_ of yours, I'm just going to wander off until you're done doing… whatever it is that you do when you're surrounded by rocks"

She didn't have to say twice for him to go along. "You sure you are going to be okay on your own?"

She shot her shoulders up and down. "When don't I?"

He nodded as he watched her walk off to explore the place.

Clara kept her eyes wild, as she came across species from all over the universe. She really enjoyed visiting new planets, perhaps even more that traveling back in time and being a part of human history herself. The universe was a big beautiful place and she found herself very lucky for being able to see it with her own eyes.

Some kind of tune got her attention, and she found herself following the sound. She had a little trouble tracking its origin down, but soon enough she was standing before a not too big crowd, eyeing a few musicians with the strangest instrument her mind couldn't even imagine of, and yet they produced a beautiful melody, one that she could easily spend the rest of her life listening to. She felt sad there wasn't a CD or something she could take home with her.

Clara closed her eyes, and for a moment, she felt like she was the only person left in that whole planet. Unconsciously, her fingers started to dance to the rhythm of the tune, and her lips fade into a weak but bright smile. She didn't ever want to leave that place.

_"_ _Let me go! No! Help me!"_

Clara was brought back by the distant plead of help, in which she wasn't sure she had heard in the first place. For all she knew, her mind could be playing tricks on her. She looked around, searching for anything even remotely out of the ordinary. She came across nothing.

_"_ _Help me! Somebody! Help!"_

She heard the screaming again and that time she didn't doubt herself. She listened to the music fade away as the cries for help grew louder as she got closer. For a brief second, she considered going to get the Doctor, as she had no way of fighting whatever creature was attacking whatever other creature apart from her words. But at the same time, what would take her to find him could mean the end of an innocent life. She didn't want to take that risk.

"Oi! Get away from her, you… you big spacey thing!" she ordered, running towards the little girl, who could easily resemble to a human child, although she had an extra eye between her brows and an unusual set of dark blue hair locks. Her fingers were long and skinny, a little unproportioned compared to the rest of her body, but unique nonetheless.

Fiercely, Clara pulled the child back, even if that alien _monster_ had held a tight grip around her wrist. "Stay back, sweetie," she strongly wrapped her arms around the tiny being.

"Who do you think you are?!" the nasty creature questioned, their voice strong and firm, lacking any kind of compassion. But as scary as he tried to be, it didn't make her even flinch.

Instead, she just frowned her eyes. "I'm Clara. I'm human and I don't like seeing people getting hurt, never mind people hurting other people. So, I'm willing to forget all of this if you just walk away and we will all just carry on with our days."

It stood still, giving Clara the chance to really study him and his body, so she could brag to the Doctor about how she saved the life of a helpless child from a heinous monster later. He wasn't that big, but his body weight could easily take over at least three of her. His face, on the other hand, was as tragic as one could be. It was really deformed and she couldn't tell where it began or ended.

Fortunately, he took a step back, allowing Clara to run away with the child under her care.

Once they were out of danger, Clara kneeled down in front of her, so their eyes could almost be at the same height. "What's your name?"

"Cordir" she let out in a whisper.

"Cordir" she repeated, giving melody to her name. "Are you okay, Cordir?"

"Yes," she had a fierce face on, "He was just being a bully."

Clara smiled sadly, agreeing. "Don't worry about him coming back to you. I'll ask my friend – who's the protector of the universe – to keep an eye out for you."

The little girl – although she appeared older than her height – smiled. "Thank your friend for me. And you too, Clara."

Clara stood up as she watched the _young woman_ walk away. Smiling to herself, she started to wander off once again, humming to herself the tune of _Hungry Like the Wolf_. Her eyes passed along all those little tends with little things, looking for something she could take home as a souvenir. She had a whole space in her closet dedicated to something she brought from every planet she visited. Little things to remind her she still hadn't seen 101 places, like she once had planned with her mother.

She wandered off until she reached a beautiful and bright garden, with a little sign saying that there were the most exquisite flowers from the planet Fudowawa. And even if there _were_ flowers on Earth, those certainly were more interesting and even more beautiful than a collection of rocks.

She kept walking, distracted with everything that surrounded her. It all appeared so beautiful, so peaceful, and she wished her home planet were more like that and less wars and hatred. She knew there was cruelness in every planet, but something made her think that humans took that cruelness to a whole new level.

And Clara was so distracted in her own world that she felt her lungs gasp for air when a strong set of arms grabbed her body.

_"_ _No one messes with us and walks away with it."_

Clara's breathing became quicker, and she did her best to free herself from whoever had just decided to take her down – although she very much knew who that was, the monster she had just stood up against. "Let me go!"

The monster lifted her in the air, as she started to kick the air in attempts to free herself. _"You're coming with us."_

"No! Don't touch me!" she screamed as loudly as she could in the hope anyone would hear her. _But no one seemed to._ "Doctor! Doctor, help!"

A strong hand was placed on top of her mouth and she couldn't breathe. Her despair kept growing but she still tried to break free. It wasn't working; her limbs were slowing letting her down.

It didn't take much for her world to become black.

* * *

An odd feeling ran through the Doctor.

He wasn't even halfway through those unique rocks, when he suddenly felt like something was wrong. He rushed his way outside, his eyes looking for something that didn't ring a bell, but he couldn't find anything.

_Clara._

He started to look for her and his heart raced when there was no sign of her. Sure, it was a big place, but something didn't feel right. He pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his inside pocket, setting it to trace her phone.q

Then, he just ran.

_"_ _Doctor!"_

It was distant, but it was there. Her screams. He could recognize her voice anywhere in time and space, and his hearts raced at the thought she was in distress. His hearts _ached_ at the possibility of not being able to save her on time.

He couldn't bear to lose her again.

His sonic lead him to the Gardens of Fudowawa, but he couldn't see her. It didn't make sense, his toy never got it wrong. Not like his spaceship anyway. He looked around, trying to find her, as scared as ever.

His eyes were attracted to a piece of metal laying in the floor. The Doctor knelt down to pick it up, then analyzing the now shattered screen of her phone.

"Oh, Clara," he cried in a whisper, "What have you got yourself into."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any feedback is much appreciated :)


	3. Chapter Three

Clara had a strange feeling in her guts.

Apart from being trapped in a dark room with no way out, she had an odd sensation running through her veins. She felt like she wasn't alone, as if there were somebody always one step behind her, watching her every move.

But as she tapped on the ground around her, she couldn't feel anything, any form of organic life. Perhaps she was just being paranoid, but she couldn't get rid of such a feeling, she'd had it since the moment she decided to kick her fear aside and buck up.

However, it didn't make sense. She had walked over all that place several times by then, she had it on the back of her head, as much as the darkness allowed her to learn and there was no way in apart from the thick metal bars, and she assumed she would hear them ranging if anyone decided to come in. Thus, if there were in fact somebody with her, that meant there was a hidden way in and she needed to find it.

Clara didn't know how long she had been there. It could have been hours, it could have been days, she couldn't tell, since her memories from after she landed in a planet with the Doctor were still lacking. All she knew was that she was thirsty and hungry, and she wouldn't be able to last much if they didn't provide her with any basic supply for survival.

She was silent, but her lips remained half opened. She didn't want to waste any of her energies in unheard words. As she walked around the room in quick steps, her arms were wrapped around her own body, trying to shield herself from the cold air. For once, she regretted leaving her jacket inside the TARDIS.

Clara was pretty sure she was familiar with her surroundings by then and she was sure there were no objects laying around. Therefore, the moment her feet stumbled over something and threw her to the floor, her face facing the ground, the adrenaline took over her whole body.

Her limps trembled because of the nasty fall, and she took a few moments to be able to turn her face and abdomen away from the floor. Her breathing was short and vivid, she could feel her chest quickly rising up and down, as she tried to calm herself. She could feel her heart beats in her throat.

_Breathe, Clara._

Her lower lip shook as a free leaf in the wind and she had no control over that. A thin line of blood ran down her right cheek, from a cut that went from her forehead to the corner of her eye, most likely caused when her face hit the floor. But as much as it hurt, it was the least of her concerns.

Her worries concentrated on the fact that now she knew for sure she wasn't alone.

She leaned herself against the palm of her hands, so she could move to a sitting position. She focused on her surroundings, listening to any sounds that could head her towards the stranger being that haunted her.

There was still nothing. Whoever they were, they were as cautions as one could be.

"Who's there?" for the first time in a while, she spoke out loud. The darkness was starting to agonize her, she had never been afraid of it, but she had been facing the black for so long it was starting to get on her nerves.

"I know you're in here," Clara carried on. She would rather meet the monster that held her captive than staying in a tiny room with him disturbing her in anonymity. "Come out now. This isn't funny anymore, I don't know what your plans are for me but stop it. Just come out of the dark."

She stood still for a long time, just waiting for something to happen. The hot blood just kept falling down her face until it hit the floor. "Come on. I'm not afraid of you"

Clara felt a strong set of cold hands wrap around her ankles, and she wanted to jump out in fear, but she didn't. She didn't want to show them any sign of weakness. She kept breathing through her mouth, just waiting for whatever fate lied ahead of her.

* * *

The Doctor stepped out of his TARDIS into the main office of the planet of Grantlera. He didn't care if he never took his ship into a battle, he would willingly break his own rules if it meant saving Clara.

Because Clara was the only one who he cared with in that moment.

"I need your list of every ship that has entered or left your planet in the past day," he demanded to a habitant that had only one eye, separated from the rest of its head.

"What-"

The Doctor didn't take a second to show his psychic paper. "Do it, now."

She did it right away, not questioning the supposed authority of the man standing in front of her.

The Doctor grabbed the paper from her hand, not even bothering to thank the girl, before heading back to his time machine. He let the TARDIS scan the names on the list.

"Come on, come on, who are you," he talked to himself, going across all those names of species that could potentially have her. And he would go to each one of them personally if it meant saving her.

Because he refused to lose her again, not after everything they had gone through.

The TARDIS managed to rule out the long list to about six names. Species that they both knew were a danger to all the life in the universe. He didn't know how Clara could have come to terms with any of them, but they could easily have taken them as a matter to get to him.

If that were the case and they harmed Clara in any way _because of him_ , then he didn't know if he would be able to forgive himself. He knew she had signed up to all the danger in the universe the moment she first stepped into the TARDIS with a mad man, but he had a duty of care. He had vowed to himself that he would protect her no matter what, and he would be dammed to break his promise.

He looked at the screen, at all the ships he would have to break in in order to get her back, thinking about the only advantage he had upon them: he had a time machine, he could go back in time and retreat her before any damage was inflicted to her.

* * *

"Who are you?" Clara asked after a long time simply staring at nowhere in silence. She could feel the creature slowly working their hands up her legs, which made her extremely uncomfortable. Maybe that was their way of tormenting her.

_"_ _I'm your worst nightmare."_

The voice sent chills to the back of her neck, bringing back with it all the memories of what had happened in Granter. _She remembered._ It felt odd, though, the hands in her legs weren't definitely the ones that had trapped her in the mainland. Something wasn't following up.

"How do you know what my worst nightmare is?" she offered a smirk, even if they couldn't see it, "What I think you're doing is trying to scare me, which, as I might say, isn't quite working well. You think this whole _leaving me in the dark_ thing is making me fear you, but you're wrong. It just shows how much of a _coward_ you are"

The pair of hands immediately left her legs, and for a moment, she thought her words had been remotely useful. But they fell back to her in a matter of seconds, but this time, they landed on her shoulders. She stood perfectly still.

_"_ _We will break you before your_ Doctor _comes to rescue you."_

This time, their hands worked their way down, at a faster speed. She swallowed hard, but that didn't stop her from using her words, "Oh, so you're after the Doctor, that explains a lot. But provide me some light here, who are you? I mean, you're not the same being who kidnapped me from Grantlera, so it makes me wonder, was it all orchestrated? Did you plan and hope to get my attention by attacking a little girl? Well, if so, here I am, but I demand some answers."

The moment those hands were about to touch her breasts, she pulled herself back. She _let_ them be in control so far, but she refused to let them abuse her in such a way, _sexualize_ her. She wasn't a toy to be played with and she would damn well let them know that.

Surprisingly, the creature settled down. At least she thought so. " _You're not as clever as you think you are. We will still break you."_

She chose to ignore them rather than let them scare her. "Respectfully, define _we._ "

_"_ _You don't know who we are._ The Doctor _doesn't know who we are. Our survival depends on our anonymity."_

"You're lying," she spat out, "The TARDIS can recognize any known species in the universe."

They giggled to themselves. " _Exactly,_ Clara, _every known species."_

She seemed to think for a little while. "Well, if you always stay in the shadows, then what was that creature you sent after me?"

_"_ _Oh, that was just_ _our pet,_ " they mumbled, " _Our public figure."_

Clara got up, so she could walk around herself. "Is that why you keep all the lights off?"

_"_ _Well, in a matter of speech…"_

Clara frowned, not fully understanding what they meant, but she let it slide. "I don't know what your plans for me are, but if you want to keep me alive until _the Doctor comes_ , then you better provide me some food and water. Also, the little girl's room would be much appreciated."

They then stayed silenced for a long period of time, to the point that Clara was starting to think they had left, but she was confirmed wrong when they strongly pulled her arms to her back, sneaking on her on surprise. "What the heck are you doing?"

He wrapped her wrists with something that reminded her of rope, although she doubted they were made of the same material. " _Just making sure you won't try anything funny."_

Clara rolled her eyes. "That's very considering of you."

_"_ _Is that too tight?"_

"Yes."

" _Good."_

She didn't utter another word, she simply let them lead her towards _her worst nightmare._


	4. Chapter Four

She was locked in a room. Again.

Clara still had no idea where she was. Everything that surrounded her was black, and she was starting to doubt what was really going on around her. Maybe that place lacked of colors, maybe they weren't creative enough to decorate it, she thought to herself.

Once the alien had freed her wrists, he had left her all by herself, at least she thought so. He had told her there were enough food and water to keep her alive, it was only a matter of finding it then.

The new room she got stuck in was notably colder than the previous one, so she kept rubbing her hands up and down the bare skin of her arms. It took her a while to start moving around, as if she were just waiting for her body to get used to the new room's temperature. It never did.

Eventually, she got her legs moving. That place was definitely smaller, to which she was thankful, so it wouldn't take her too much to fully get around it. Her steps were cautious, until her left knee hit something hard. She cussed to herself after the new set of pain going through her veins, but it soon faded away.

Clara knelt down, her chest being at the same height as the object. Soon enough, she understood it to be a table, or something holding the same meaning. Her hands traveled through its surface, until she found the food and the water they had told her about.

Firstly, she didn't know what to do. For all she knew, there could be deadly poison laying ahead of her, and she didn't want to take that risk. But neither did she have a choice. Her stomach was howling inside of her, if she didn't do anything about it sometime soon, she could most likely starve and dehydrate to death.

Carefully, she took a sip of the water. She was hesitant at first, but once it got to her dry throat, there was no stopping her until it was over. Clara didn't know she was that thirsty to begin with. She grabbed something that felt like bread, and then ate it all.

Finally, she felt her energies getting back to her. Slowly, but she assumed she would live to fight another day. And she hoped the Doctor would come to her before her day was up.

She was tired, she felt like she hadn't slept in forever. But as much as her eyes were dreading to close, Clara refused to let them. Even if it would make no difference, leaving them opened was a sign of awareness she refused to let go.

She got back up, starting to walk around so she could kick off the sleep out of her system. It did, because her mind started to get something new from the confined room, something that wasn't ought to happen.

_The room was gradually getting colder._

If she had any ability to see, she was sure she would be able to see the hot air coming out of her and fading into the cold air of the room. She didn't comprehend what was happening. Why would they feed her only then to kill her of hypothermia? Were they having experiments on her? Had she eaten something hallucinatory that was making her imagine herself feeling extremely cold? Were they torturing her, trying to _break_ her?

With her arms wrapped around herself, she walked off until she reached the corner of the room. She leaned her back against the walls and fell down to the floor, her knees up close to her chest. Her lower lip was starting to tremble as she tried to keep her breathing steady.

She could feel her heart beating slower according to how colder the place was getting. It didn't take much for her whole body to start shaking. Clara was very petite, her body didn't have enough mass to shield her from the cold for a long period of time. She could tell it would be a matter of minutes until she became borderline hypothermic.

Her eyelids started to get heavy and she couldn't help herself but to close them. She didn't want to give up to unconsciousness, if there was something she had learned after all those years traveling with the Doctor was to never give up and never give in. But she wasn't strong enough.

She took one last breath, before her body fell to the ground in a fetal position, and she didn't move no more.

* * *

The Doctor stepped out of his TARDIS once again. This was the fifth spaceship he was landing at for the past hours, and for instance, he didn't very much liked being there.

That ship belonged to the Krileons, and all of its species lived aboard. They had had their own planet a long time before, one that was shielded and not one outsider could actually enter, because they enjoyed their anonymity. No one had ever seen what they looked like, not even his TARDIS had a picture of them. So obviously, in a day of pure curiosity, the Doctor decided to find out what they looked like. The outcome he was expecting for didn't quite work out, since everybody took off in big spaceships the moment he arrived, but not before shooting at him a lot of munition, something that almost costed him one regeneration.

After that, they walked the stars giving terror to whatever creature that got in their way.

If his worst nightmare was correct, Clara had been the most recent creature to. If she were indeed there, he had to find her and get her out of there as soon as possible. Because so many civilizations had legends of the Krileons, and just a few of them told tales about how fast they killed their victims.

He walked fast across the ship, pointing his screwdriver at anything out of the blue. For once in his life, he was silent, cautious, not waiting to draw anyone's attention. He would live another day to fight the Krileons, but he would make sure he was alone when that happened.

His eyes were aware of his surroundings. He didn't know what they looked like, for all he knew, they could be with him right there. The Doctor didn't like where that was going. It was a much big spaceship, even if he had parked in the prison wing, there was a very high chance he would get to her when it was too late.

_No,_ he refused to think like that. He had a duty of care, and if anything happened to her under _his care_ , he doubted he would ever be able to forgive himself. He had already lost so many things, and Clara had been there for him during each of his loss, whether it was the actual her or just one of her echoes, but regardless of that, he would be a terrible friend if he didn't pay her the same favor. Yet, there was a part of him that said he wouldn't be able to make it without her.

Wandering through the halls, he came across a door. There wasn't anything about it out of the ordinary, but something wrong rang his bell. He pointed his tool at the lock, his hearts praying that she would be there so they could go home.

Hesitantly, he found his way in. It was an odd room, having a cell inside of it, as if the Krileons enjoyed watching their prays struggle for their lives. If Clara had been there, he knew she wouldn't have had sit put and waited for him to rescue her, something that made him even more scared for her life.

He scanned the room for any sign of her, and his hearts skipped a beat when he found it. In a corner of the cell, there was a thin line of blood, it was almost unnoticeable but it was there. The Doctor knew he had to find her immediately.

His blood was running through his veins as he was able to lock a trace from her blood to whenever she was now. His steps became even faster when he stepped out of the cell room, leaving his screwdriver hanging in the air until it managed to track her down.

"Come on, Clara, where are you," he whispered to himself, in an almost nonexistent tune, since he didn't want to focus the aliens' attention onto him. Every door he passed by gave him an alternative reality of what could have happened to her, which made his anger grow gradually more and more. If Clara were damaged, _broken,_ he would track her attackers down to hell, if that meant getting her any kind of justice. It was a promise to her, even if she didn't know about it.

The Doctor started to believe he was getting lost in those miles of alleys, until the sound of the sonic became louder when locked into a certain point in the wall. But it didn't make sense. "There's nothing there! You can't tell me she's there when there's nothing there!" he snapped at his own toy.

"Unless…" the Doctor started talking to himself, no caring anymore if anyone could hear him. "Unless there is something here, something I can't see, something I'm missing…"

He ran his hands through the wall, looking for something unusual. When he didn't, he scanned the whole wall, looking for a big friendly bottom that would help him in. He smirked to himself when the screwdriver found a secret lock to which he fortunately managed to unlock.

The door was heavy, even for his more muscled body than his previous reincarnations. He bit his lower lip as he used his sonic to open it. Whatever the door was made of, it was surely not happy to be opened in such a rigid way.

He tried to lock it opened, but it almost fell over him for the brief second he stopped using the screwdriver. Realizing he was stuck in such position, the Doctor moved his head to search the room, knowing the clock on her life was ticking faster and faster.

But he couldn't help it but to feel an weird sensation coming from that place. It was colder than the rest of the ship, even for his low temperature Time Lord body to notice.

His eyes locked at a little figure lying still in the corner of the _freezer._ He felt his world colliding as he looked at her.


	5. Chapter Five

Clara could feel her last heartbeats coming.

Her lungs gasped for air, but she didn't have any strength left in her to actually breathe. All the heat her body still held came from the continuous shaking of her, but it didn't really make a difference, it still wasn't enough to give her any hope she would make it out alive.

She wondered if she were alone, if they weren't watching her freeze to death. She knew her image couldn't be pretty; her skin must have been fifty shades of blue, her limps laid lifeless on the floor, she couldn't even open her eyes. Not that it mattered, the darkness was still swallowing her.

But if they were indeed, then she was damn sure they were enjoying themselves.

She heard a strange sound, one that she was very familiar. The screwdriver. Soon enough, it was accompanied by the Doctor's muffed moans, and her weak mind started to worry. She didn't want to die there, but it would be ten times worse if the Doctor died there among her.

"Doctor…" she used all of what was left of her strength to scream his name, in whatever hope she had left, but the sound of her words barely made it out of her lips.

But he heard them anyway. He would always hear her. "Clara!" his voice was hard, as if he were holding something really heavy, which he was. "Clara, I know it's difficult, but you have to get up before this door locks us both in."

Clara didn't need any light to recognize his voice. She knew he would have come to her, as she knew she had to get up. She tried her best to, she even managed to raise her body from the ground a couple of inches, but she fell back moments after. She couldn't do it, she wasn't strong enough. "Doctor…"

She heard a loud noise, like something heavy crashing to the floor. Next thing she knew, he was lifting her on his arms, wrapping his magician coat around her tiny body. "I'm here, Clara, I've got you."

She opened her eyes, hoping to find him there, but she found darkness instead. Therefore, she raised her hands to touch his face, to make sure it was really him. He didn't even flinch at her could touch. "Doctor…? Is this really you…?" her voice was no more than a whisper.

"Yes, it's really me," he spoke in his strong accent.

The Doctor got up, strongly carrying her in his arms. The body that once shook terribly was starting to ease down, most likely because of his Time Lord jacket. She looked so broken, her lips were blue and her lower one still trembled from the cold. He was slightly surprised she had lasted so long, knowing very well how little the resistance of humans were.

He hugged her tight, allowing the heat of his body to pass to hers. She looked so small, like a helpless child in his arms, trusting him to take care of her because she couldn't do it for herself anymore. She knew he would.

"We've got to get out of here," he spoke up, not really expecting an answer from her. His only concern was to find a way out, now that the door had locked itself to his screwdriver.

"Doctor…"

"Shh, you just rest, Clara," he demanded, tugging her even closer. Their two bodies were so close they were starting to merge into one. "I won't let them get to you again, I promise."

"I'm c-cold," she confessed, neither the piece of clothing or the physical contact seemed to be working. She hid her face against his chest.

The Doctor pressed his lips against the top of her head, even if this reincarnation of his were as emotional distant as one could be. "You're going to be okay, Clara, just hang in there."

She felt her heart accelerating at the simple show of affect, to which she was thankful for. More than never, she wanted to make an inappropriate comment and see his face blush. A small smirk appeared in the corner of her lips. "Why, Doctor, are you finally letting your soft and very inner side show?"

He rolled her eyes at her comment. "Of course you of all people, Clara Oswald, would be the one to make a joke during a moment like this," he complained.

She chose to remain silent, wrapping her arms around his neck. She could feel him walking around with her, and she didn't need her sight to know that he was studying the place, trying to get them out of that mess, but she couldn't understand how. For all she knew, time lords weren't known for having a supervision, one that broke through the barriers of darkness nonetheless.

"Clara, can you stand?" the Doctor asked gently, while rubbing his hands on the skin underneath the big coat, trying to provide her as much heat as he could, knowing she wouldn't last much longer without it. "I know you're hurt, I know you're cold, I know you feel weaker than you are, but I need to know if you'll be able to run in case everything goes wrong – you know it usually does."

"Can't feel anything…" she whispered, feeling a sudden wish to just go to sleep. She felt like she hadn't in forever. "Besides, how could we ran in the dark?"

The Doctor made a face, not quite sure of the meaning behind her words. "Why are we talking metaphoric?"

Clara closed her eyes, ready to give in to the tiredness of both her body and mind. "I'm not…" she mumbled.

He waved his hand above her eyes, trying to get her to open them again and see him. She did neither. The Doctor then felt her grip around his neck fade away and his hearts raced. "Clara? Come on, Clara, wake up, you can do this."

When she didn't move, he adjusted her in his arms, feeling a rush on his veins to leave that dangerous place. He tried not to think of her words, not to think why she thought the world was dark, but there were stories scrambled throughout the whole universe, tales and statements on what had happened to anyone who came across a Krileon, and he feared the same had happened to his companion.

Clumsily, he managed to pick the screwdriver, the one that was then inside the jacket around her body. The Doctor scanned the room for any insights, and part of him was relieved when he found some weird readings into an wall.

Carefully, he laid Clara on top of the table there displayed, making sure his coat wouldn't fall off from her. He stared at her unconscious form for a brief second, before moving towards the wall, in which he hoped to find their way out.

The Doctor's hands passed all over it, until he found an area made of some different material for about ten inches than the rest. He imagined that was the only way in and out, since the door he had first came in through didn't seem to have been used in ages. He could feel it in his bones that there was a lock somewhere in front of him just waiting to be found.

For once in his life, the universe had been kind enough to grant him that. Through the whole process of going through every single inch of the supposed door, he kept listening for her breathing, just making sure she was still alive. Her wellbeing was still the first of this concerns.

An awkward smile appeared in his face once two of his fingers came across a small bump in the flat wall. Fussing with it for a while, he was able to get the door to open briefly, but wild enough for both of them to get through. Then, he walked back to her. The Doctor felt bad for leaving her aside, given to how her lips had become a shade darker of blue. He checked her temperature through his sonic, and he wasn't surprised when it marked 32°C. That wasn't good, she needed proper care before she froze to death, and he was not willing to let her go like that or not at all.

He lifted her back in his arms, whishing more than never he had an extra piece of clothing. His hearts broke at the sensation of her little form shaking unconditionally against his body. "Just hang in there. You're going to be okay, Clara. I'll get you out of here. And then, well then I'm going to take you to a planet where the sun never goes down, and we will stay there until you feel warm enough."

The Doctor looked at her as he wandered through the spaceship's halls, even if she couldn't hear him or look back at him. For some reason, that made he feel better, knowing that she was still breathing in his arms gave him some kind of hope. He didn't know where he was, neither did he know how to get back to the TARDIS. He was only thankful for not being in that cold room anymore, but somewhere that could give Clara some sense of warmness.

"Doctor…"

The alien man looked down, a reassuring smile appearing in his face as he watched her come back to consciousness, relieved that at least she wasn't out of herself anymore. He didn't stop walking, although, running towards anywhere with even a slim chance of survival. "Hey, you."

She opened her eyes, only to be hit with a sense of reality. By the way she felt the world move around her, she could guess he was carrying her somewhere. "The w-world is still black."

The Doctor sighed. The world wasn't black to him. He chose to lie, anyway. "Yeah, I'm afraid it is."

But she could hear right past him. "Doctor? Why can't I see anything?"

He took a deep breath, dreading to give her the answers she longed for. "Don't worry about that now, just worry about getting warmer. You're colder than a penguin!"

She shrugged in his arms, not making any effort to leave them but enough to show him her protest. She was scared that if she had lost her sight, if she had gone permanently blind, she wouldn't be able to teach, to read, to travel. She would be forgotten in both time and space.

"Doctor, please," she begged, holding to the white collar shirt he was wearing so tightly her fingers were turning from blue to white.

He looked around himself searching for a place they could hide long enough for him to calm her down. He figured it would be a wise decision to go inside what seemed to be a supply closet.

Once in there, he placed her on the floor, just so he could sit as well. Clara, however, refused to leave the strength of his embrace, not only because he was providing her with warmth, but because he was her only guide to the outside world, her vision. She felt safe close to him.

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her tiny body. It pleased him that she was slowly getting back to her normal pink-y color, even if at a slow rage, but he could tell from the way she grabbed to his torso that she was still cold. He regretted not owning a coat that was warmer on the inside.

Clara rested her head against his chests, listening carefully to the sound of his heartbeats. She didn't even bother keeping her eyes open, knowing it wouldn't make a difference. "Tell me the truth, Doctor. Am I blind?"

The Doctor kept her folded in his arms, thinking to himself that he could protected her in such a position. At least, comfort her if the truth was too much for her to handle. "There are stories, tales that have spread in the universe about the Krileons, the aliens who have kidnapped you."

She nodded, expecting him to carry on.

He did. "People say that if you look at a Krileon even for a brief second, they will blind you. They're just evil, Clara, they don't care about anyone but themselves. They have fun running through time and space tormenting whoever comes in their way."

Clara felt her heart race, scared for what the outcomes would be. Her lips opened just enough so she could ask, "Why?"

The Doctor felt her tense up in his arms. "I don't know. Some say that's their way of staying in the shadows; some say they're so ugly that the eyes can't bear with what it's seen so they shut down; other's just say they enjoy causing pain."

She took a long breath, pulling her friend even closer to her. She wasn't seeking warmth this time, just comfort instead. Her face was still tugged into his strong chest, and she could feel him running his hand up and down her torso. "Can you fix me?"

He looked for her eyes, even if she couldn't see him, even if her eyes focused on a point right past him. "I don't know, Clara, but I promise you I'll do everything in my power so you can get your vision back."

Clara cupped his face with the palm of her hands and gave him a weak smile. She was sure he could see the tears forming in the corner of her eyes, just as she could feel them, thus she decided to think of something else. "Doctor? Thanks for coming to get me."

The Doctor once again kissed her in the forehead, not caring about any further comments she might make about this softer side of his. "Clara, my Clara, I'll always come back for you."


	6. Chapter Six

"So, what's the plan?" Clara was now in a sitting position, her knees up against her chest, just so she could evolve her legs inside of the coat she worn twice her size. She looked fearless, ready for whatever dangerous adventure laid ahead of her, even if she was surrounded by a dark world.

The Doctor walked around himself in the tiny room, carefully not to step on her while doing so. He could feel her eyes on him, even if she wasn't actually seeing him. He stole a glimpse of her every now and then, just to make sure she was still breathing, regardless that his last scan of her had told her temperature to be up 35°C.

"We run," he said with a smirk.

Clara gave him a face. "Please enlighten me," she started, "But how are we going to run if I can't see anything, and if you end up seeing a Krileon, you will be blinded as well."

He kneeled down in front of her, so she could feel his warm breath in front of her. "Easy. I'll blind myself before they blind me."

"You're bat-crap crazy!" she squealed, in a high pitched tone. "How do you expect us to get out of here if neither of us can't see anything?"

"Do you have a better tactile plan?" he provoked her. "Besides, we don't really need our eyes if we have the sonic."

She kept a permanent frown in her face. "Explain how the sonic will help us in a moment like _this_."

"I can program it to locate the TARDIS and we can follow the sound for guidance."

Clara placed both her hands in his shoulders. "Wouldn't it be easier to just bring the TARDIS here?!"

The Doctor buffed, as if her suggestion was way out of line. "She'll get upset! She'll think we're just lazy!"

"It's a machine! It doesn't get a saying!" her voice was getting higher and higher according to his increasing lack of sense.

He rolled her eyes. "No wonder she doesn't like you!" his accent got more noticeable given to his annoyed mood. "Put your hand in the inside pocket, look for something similar to some fabric, anything that could be used as a blindfolder."

She did as she was told, her eyes growing when she came across the amount of thins he carried with him. "How do you even have so many things? Your coat is so light!"

"Well, don't be silly," he argued. "The pocket is bigger on the inside."

Clara simply nodded, too tired to start a discussion over his fetish with bigger on the inside things. She then took out a piece of fabric – or so she assumed to be. "Will this do?"

The Doctor folded his own head with it and then smirked to himself. "Perfect."

She tugged his arms back inside his coat. "So, what do we do now?"

Carefully, he stood back up. "Can you stand up or do you want me to still carry you around?" he offered.

"For your information, I'm more than capable of taking care of my own, thank you very much," she stated, refusing to accept the help he was offering or any help at all. She managed to get up, only for her legs to betray her confidence, causing her stumble and fall back right into the Doctor's arms.

"You were saying?" he asked her ironically, at the same time he wrapped his arms around her body, allowing her to put all her weight onto him. She was lighter than a feather.

"Shut up," she demanded, her cheeks as red as wine. For once, she was glad his eyes were blindfolded so he wouldn't see her blush, even if she was sure he could tell it even without his vision. She tried to free herself from his hold, to remain control of her legs, but he wouldn't let her go.

Instead, he knelt down in front of her. "Jump on my back."

"What?!" she found his offer way out of line. "I'm not doing that!"

"Would you rather be slowed down and get caught again by the Krileons?" his voice showed a high level of annoyance. "Come on, now."

Mumbling some words of disagreement under her breath, she fixed his coat around her torso before finally doing what she was told. The Doctor let out a moan with the sudden extra weight on his back, although he did it more because of his Scottish excuse to complain about everything than because he found her heavy.

She wrapped her little legs around his waist and her arms on his neck. "May I acknowledge you that I still don't like being here."

The Doctor straightened his back. "Well, you can complain about it all once we're safely back in the TARDIS."

Clara rested her left cheek on the back of his head, the smell of his hair pouring to her nose. "Doctor?" she called out for him, hearing the sonic in the air and feeling him moving around.

"Yes, Clara, I'm kind of busy here," he complained.

She didn't care, instead she buried her nose deeper onto his hair. "I'm scared" her voice came out as a whisper, muffed by his grey hair.

He didn't seem to pay much attention to her, more focused in getting around the ship without his sight. "Don't be scared, I'll get us both out of this mess."

She didn't doubt him; he had saved themselves from far worst situations. Getting out of there wasn't what frightened her at all. "I'm scared I won't get my vision back."

She felt him strongly wrap his fingers around one of her hands. "We will get it fixed, okay? One way or another, we will get your vision back, I give you my word."

Clara swallowed hard. "Don't make promises you can't keep," she pleaded, not wanting to be given false hope.

The Doctor rubbed his thumb against her soft human skin. "We have all of time and all of space just for ourselves, Clara. Somewhere, sometime in this universe is bond to have a way to get your sight back."

Clara tightened her grip around his neck, but he didn't seem to mind. He was glad he was able to provide all the support she would need. "Alright," she gave him a two syllables answer, but it was enough for him.

The sonic made weird sound and the Doctor froze. "Clara…?"

She could tell something was off based on his voice tune. "D-doctor…?"

He took a few seconds to get back to her. "I don't think we're alone anymore," he said under a breath.

"You don't think?!" she spatted in a whispered tone. Her eyes remained wild open, even if there was nothing before them.

"I'm sorry if I don't have my eyes!" his accent once again grew stronger. "I can't see the readings on the sonic!"

"Next time, get a sonic with an automatic voice!" she demanded in a high pitched voice, one that almost deafened him.

"If I agree, will you _just_ stop yelling at me?!" he argued. "It's not my fault if you got kidnapped by one of the most dangerous species in the universe!"

Clara gave him a hard slap in the back of the neck, causing him to squeal. "Ouch! What was that for?!"

"For being an idiot," she kept screaming, regardless of the possibility they weren't alone. "It's not my fault if the Krileons got to me so they could _get to you_!"

"Well, then that makes us very unfortunate," he mumbled, tightening the grip on her legs.

"Okay, in that case, do you have a plan?" she wondered, taking deep breathes. Those were still the creatures who had almost frozen her to death, and she was scared of what they had on plate for next, if they got to her again.

"Working on it," he told her. "Do you want to go down?"

"No, not really," she was quick to say, pressing her body closer to his.

"Thought so", he nodded to himself, as he kept thinking to himself what to say next. "I say we run."

"Run, where?"

"I still owe you a trip to 1920s Lake District, don't I, and I could really use some scones right now."

She smiled briefly, "That sounds nice," it then faded away. "Really, Doctor, what are we going to do?"

The Doctor took a small step, and then another. "We're walking. If we bump into a Krileon, then we'll use our words out. If not, we'll just flee and never look back."

Clara laid her chin on top of his right shoulder. "Okay"

He took several steps in a complete silence, feeling her warm breath against his skin, vivid and quick, as if she were letting all of her fears and worries out in a simple action as breathing. He just wished he could look into her eyes and assure her one more time that it would be alright.

Then, a loud noise got both of their attentions.

"Doctor?" Clara called out for him, in despair that something had happened that would cause him to be taken away from her, even if she were still hopped onto his back.

"Clara?" his voice, coming out like a painful moan, certainly indicated that something had happened.

"Yes…?" her heart was pumping faster and faster inside of her chest.

He exhaled deeply. "I think I might have just run my face into an wall."

Clara rolled her eyes, mad at him for making her worry for no reason at all, at the same time that she was thankful that they were both still okay and alive. "Lucky for you, you have a big nose to prevent you from hurting the rest of your face"

The Doctor acted hurt with her comment. "You know, for someone who's clinging onto me like their life depended on it, you're extremely rude to me,"

She didn't answer him. Instead, she felt her blood pulse inside of her veins as her voice tune went from amusing to frightening, "D-doctor…? I'm pretty sure I j-just felt something touch my back."

He remained completely still, for the first time. "You're sure? Very sure?" he questioned her, feeling her body tense against him, and he could tell she was having a hard time catching her breath. He didn't blame her for getting anxious, he could only wonder what they had done to her in his absence, for now he simply knew he had to protect her no matter what.

"Sure enough," Clara exclaimed.

"Are you willing to hold your hand in the air and wait for someone or something to grab it?"

"I'd really rather not," she confessed, hugging him so strongly she feared she would suffocate him, but still unwilling to release the grip from his neck.

"It's alright, we will just keep walking and hope for the best," he proceeded, turning his sonic to the sides to track the TARDIS once again.

The Doctor took one step to his left, but he stopped when a warm breath met him in the face, one that he knew it couldn't belong to the woman clung onto him. He held her legs even more fiercely than before. "Clara? No matter how scared you are, _don't let go_."

Clara closed her eyes, nodding with her head. She couldn't tell if he were talking about letting go of his body, or letting go of the hope he would save themselves. Regardless, she didn't intend to neither. She tugged her face onto him, letting her fears be comforted with the simple physical touch.

"Whoever is standing in front of me…" The Doctor begun, not flinching his body even a tiny bit. "…why don't we start properly? I'm the Doctor."

He waited and waited for some kind of reply, even if Clara's body language was begging him to go on. He couldn't do that; his curiosity didn't allow he to. He waited for what seemed forever.

" _Doctor who?_ "

"Yes, yes, that one," he grinned to himself. "Now, who are you?"

_"We are your worst nightmare._ "

The Doctor felt Clara tremble, and he assumed that they had done her something so bad that would cause her actual nightmares for a while. He searched for her hand, stroking it gently. "I'm over 2000 years old, I've seen a lot of ugly things in this universe, so trust me when I say that it causes me a little more than a raspy voice in the dark to scare me off."

" _Then why are you blindfolded, Doctor?_ "

He let out a loud laugh. "Don't you think you will fool me. I've seen what you've done to Clara, and I despite this cowardice of yours. _Blinding people_ … Pff, this makes me wonder if you've ever really seen the beauty in the universe, because no one who has truly seen it would willingly take that gift away from others."

" _We've seen the beauty, but you've taken it away from us when you invaded our planet_."

"Oh, so that is what this is all about!" his accent spoke for him. "Clara, you can calm down. This isn't an act of evilness, it's simple and pure revenge. Well, sometimes evilness follows revenge but we shall disregard that."

She still seemed edgy, but her tight grip soon grew loose. "That doesn't really _really_ make me feel better, Doctor," she told him, finally having the guts to raise her head once again.

"Well, don't say I didn't try," he mumbled to her, before turning his attention back to the Krileon ahead of him, "Your planet is right there where you left. Just go back already, stop haunting innocents down, stop seeking for the blood of people who have done _nothing_ to you!"

" _But what about you, Doctor? You brought us here, you made us what we are!_ "

"Then come to me! Not to anybody else, not to Clara, to me!" he demanded, his anger pulsing through his hearts. He was holding her like he held the most precious cargo.

Clara managed to jump off his back anyway. For the first time, her legs didn't collapse under her, but she still held onto the Doctor's arms for guidance. "The Doctor didn't make you who you are. I don't know what he did to make you all so angry at him, knowing him it can't have been something so good, but you chose the path you've taken. So, you want to torture the guy for his sins? Then be my guest," the Doctor made a sound at her speech, but she held a finger up to silence him. "But first you should start looking at your own past."

The Doctor leaned onto her, so she could whisper in her ear. "If this gets me inside a torture chamber then I'm leaving you on Earth bored without travels for a _whole month_!" he complained, only to get a _hush_ from her.

" _You shall pay for your sins,_ " they uttered after a long moment of silence, probably putting their words into consideration. They didn't make the decision Clara was hoping for.

She took a step back, getting herself closer to the Doctor. They both could feel each other's body against their own, somehow comforting, as they braced themselves for the scary future that laid so close ahead to them.

"Clara?" he called for her, hearing her sped up breathing.

"Yeah…?" she replied, praying that he had come up with some kind of weird and twisted plan in the past five seconds.

"We should do that thingy we're always doing in situations like this," the Doctor suggested.

"Is that the best you could have thought of?" she complained.

"Well, do you have any better ideas? Because I'm opened for suggestions" he told her.

"No, not really," Clara sighed.

"Then, stop complaining!" he gave her a face, even if she couldn't see it. "Okay, on my count: four, three-"

"Really, Doctor? Can't you count forwardly like a normal person?" Clara interrupted.

"You count if it bothers you so much!"

"I don't want to count, I'm just saying-"

"You know what? Let's save this conversation for a time in which we're not facing mortal danger, shall we?" he rolled his eyes, before returning his business. "Four, three, two, one…" he grabbed her hand and whispered, "… _run_!"


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm incredibly sorry for the delay, but I hope this last chapter makes up for it :)

“How can you bloody tell where we’re running to!” Clara asked between breaths, she and the Doctor running for their lives, as an army of Krileons chased right after them.

The Doctor pulled her by the arm, guiding her through the halls of the spaceship they were in. “Let’s just say I might have taken the blindfold off.”

“What?!” Clara yelled at him, unbelieved with his stupidity. “They will end up blinding you as well!”

“That’s why I was speaking metaphorically, Clara!”

Clara rolled her eyes, knowing very well his words held no ratability. She just kept running, trusting him to make the right decisions to keep them both safe, even if she didn’t agree with his ways.

“The TARDIS is right ahead of us,” the Doctor told her, relieved to see his machine in one shape. “Clara, get the key inside of my coat,” he referred to piece of clothing she still worn.

For the first time, she let go of his hand, so she could the inside pocket at the jacket that still wrapped her torso and provided her warmth. She slightly slowed her feet down so she could search for the very tine object in that very large pocket of him.

The Doctor kept running in front of her, believing her to be right behind him. He couldn’t look back, not if the Krileons were behind them as well, and he assumed they were. Once he finally reached the TARDIs, he waited for Clara to bump into him, so she could hand him the key to get the door opened. But she never did.

“Clara?” he called out for her. He kept waiting for an answer but it never came either. He took a deep breath, as an angered fear ran down his spine, before finally turning around.

He left his eyes wild open, and for some reason, his vision didn’t fade away. Instead, if focused on the fragile human form of his companion trapped into the arms of one Krileon, their hands above her mouth and nose, to keep her from screaming or uttering any other kind of sound. And from the way she was clinging into their arm, he could tell she was struggling to breathe.

“Let. Her. Go.” he ordered calmly and haltingly, but his eyes held all the hatred they could. The Doctor didn’t even seem to bother himself with the fact that he could see one of those creatures without actually being blinded.

“Why should we, Doctor?” the male Krileon, who seemed to be in charge, wondered. “Go on, get into your precious spaceship and disappear, don’t look back, save yourself.”

Clara’s eyes begged him to run off, but he could never. He took a step forward, instead. “I’m not going anywhere without Clara.”

A bunch of them laughed to themselves, as if they already knew what his answer was going to be.

“But the question is,” he rose a finger at them, still eyeing her. Clara’s eyes were bright and big, focusing in some point right past him, which made his hearts swell. “Why am I still seeing?”

He bored himself while waiting for a reply.

“I can see you all! Look at you, big grey things. You know, for a species who have its whole existence in the shadows, you’re not even that scary! A big head, a big belly, two sets of arms and legs, nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“Time Lord needs to suffer,” came the answer.

He shook his head up and down with arrogance. “Then why aren’t I blind?”

The Krileons changed looks, before turning their attention to Clara. “It is known that what hurts the Doctor the most is seeing the pain of his companions.”

For the first time, the Doctor froze. He stared at the blank eyes of hers, that were filled with brutal fear, one that he hadn’t seen before, not in her eyes at least, not after all that time they had spent traveling together. But he couldn’t blame her, she had felt what they could do to someone – he hadn’t. He cussed himself for not being able to keep her safe once again. She could die and he would lose her forever this time.

“You won’t lay a finger on her. Not if any of you enjoy this pathetic life of yours, you won’t _touch her,_ ” he threatened, even if there were so little he could do in his position.

“Or what, you will use your _screwdriver_ against us?” they all laughed at him, before throwing the helpless girl across the floor. The Doctor knelt down immediately.

Clara gasped for air, her body thanking her for the struggle to breathe having fade away. She used her hands as balance to lift herself from the floor, even if she never made it past a few inches. “Doctor…”

She felt him near her, and it was a matter of seconds until he took her in his arms. She grabbed onto his shirt tightly, as if her life depended on that. “Doctor…” her words barely made out of her lips. “Why didn’t you just run?”

He gently cupped the cheeks of her face into the palm of his hands. “I would never leave you behind, Clara.”

Clara closed her eyes, regardless if the darkness was a new companion of hers. “I’m scared,” she confessed, tugging herself even deeper into his arms.

“I know you are, I’m scared too,” he told her, warming her as he wrapped her with his arms. The Krileons watched them pretty much enjoying seeing the fear in both their eyes. “But I don’t want you to be afraid, because I will get us out of this situation.”

“Yeah? How’s that?” her voice was weak, like she didn’t really believe him, but gave him the benefit of the doubt either way.

“Well,” he slowly took his hands to the insides of the coat still around her, and his head approached hers, so he could whisper in her ear: “They were fool enough to let us be together, and Clara, when we’re together, the whole universe shivers beneath us.”

Clara smiled at his words, still laying on his lap. “You’ve got a plan there, Doctor?”

“As a matter of fact, yes,” he smiled right back at her, looking into her big brown eyes.

“You’re not just saying this to make me feel better, are you? You have an habit of that,” she complained, but for once she didn’t let the fear grab a hold of her.

“No, I actually have a plan, this time,” he rubbed this thumb against her smooth skin, before raising his head to face the Krileons, his other hand making its way out of his coat. “You know what’s your biggest mistake?”

They stared blankly at him.

“You’re all so busy _blinding_ people that you miss what’s right in front of you. You take so much joy into hurting the others that you don’t see what’s coming in your way to hurt you.”

“What are you talking about?” they asked him, their pleasure suddenly being replaced with despair.

The Doctor gave them a smirk, before showing them the TARDIS key in his hand. “See ya.”

In less than five seconds, the TARDIS had materialized itself around the two of them, leaving the Krileons locked in the outside. He helped her stood up, guiding her towards one of the seats around the console. He made no effort to retrieve his clothing from her, though. “Just hang tight in there, Clara. We’re in the TARDIS, we’re safe.”

Clara nodded, then quietly rested her head against the back of the chair.

The Doctor headed to the console, pressing bottoms so they could take off. But then he realized they couldn’t leave, not before addressing to the Krileons and punishing them for hurting _his best friend._ Thus, he sent an hologram of himself to the outside.

The Krileons eyed him, wordless. Their lack of communication skills was starting to get on his nerves. “Hi, I’m the Doctor – but you know what already. You must be thinking how I’m here without actually stepping out of my machine, let’s just say I’m magic.”

Clara rolled her eyes at his speech, for once wishing she was deaf rather than blind. If he had seen her body reactions, he made no acknowledgment of it. He carried on.

“But don’t even try to do me harm, because I’m not actually standing before you. I’m inside the most secure place in the universe, not even a fleet of Daleks can get inside, and trust me, they’ve tried. Several times, in fact. And what is your little _super power_ compared to a Dalek? _Nothing._ ”

“Your words mean nothing to us,” the Krileon leader argues.

“No? Okay. What about my actions, then? Should I remind you that you didn’t blind me when you had the chance and now the image of you is printed in my memories, and let’s just say I know how to bring a species down.”

“You can’t do anything with an image, _a memory,_ ” they cringed.

The Doctor made a face. “That’s right, you can’t, unless you own the most powerful spaceship in the universe. Ops, what is this I’m standing on? Oh, that’s right, the most powerful spaceship in the universe!”

Clara simply giggled at his lines, too tired to be annoyed at his ego.

“So, this is what is going to happen. I’m going to connect myself to the TARDIS so she can retrieve _those memories,_ and then I’m going to spread it across all of time and space, and this will be the end of your reign.”

They seemed terrified at the possibility. “What good would that bring you?”

“Me? Nothing. The rest of the universe, although, that’s a totally different story,” he ironically waved at them. “Bye bye, now.”

Finally, he pulled the lever down, the TARDIS shaking up and down as they took off. The Doctor held onto the console, eyeing the woman in the corner of his eyes, who grabbed onto the chair but remained completely still. The ship trembled for a few more seconds before coming to a complete stop.

Clara looked up to where she supposed the console was. “Where are we?”

“Away,” he told her, walking towards her. “In the time vortex.”

She nodded quietly, slightly flinching away the moment she felt him touch her shoulder. For a moment, she was back in the dark cell being tormented by her kidnapper. Her cheeks reddened instantaneously. “I’m sorry…”

The Doctor frowned his brows at her. “There’s nothing to be sorry about, Clara.”

She took a long breath, before finally standing up, knowing he would be there to guide her and to catch her if she fell over anything. “I’m not afraid of you.”

Softly and making sure his actions didn’t alarm her, we welcomed her in his arms, in a way he rarely ever did. “I wouldn’t blame you if you were, Clara.”

She sniffed against him, her head being at the same height of one of his hearts. “It’s an irrational fear; you’ve done nothing but to show me love and support since the moment you rescued me. I shouldn’t behave like this.”

He laid his wet lips against her forehead. “For someone as clever as you, you’re quite naïve at times,” he chuckled at his own words. “You went through something traumatizing. You’re still going. You’re allowed to all the emotions going through your mind right now, they’re what make you _human._ ”

She listening him quietly, his words being replaced by the sound of his heartbeats. They were so loud, she could hear them like there were no muscle between her ears and his hearts, probably because her hearing was already beginning to be more keen due to her lack of vision. “Doctor? You never willingly hugged me, not without a good motive, at least.”

“Isn’t _love_ a good reason enough?” he pondered, his voice lacking the rudeness it tended to hold. His hands gently caressed her back up and down. “Besides, I figured you’d enjoy a place to hide your face.”

A small smile cracked her lips, before she finally let herself go from his arms, still close enough to feel him hovering over her. She moved her hands to her chest, “I assume you’d like your magician coat back.”

The Doctor touched her hands with his own, impeding her from taking it off. “Keep it, it looks good on you.”

“No, it doesn’t,” she uttered with a small laugh, but made no effort to actually take it off. Somehow, that little piece of clothing made her feel better, gave her some sense of comfort, most likely because it smelled and felt like _him_. “Doctor?” she called him shyly.

“Clara,” he said her name, the simple word holding all the meaning that he would be there for her, no matter what she needed or would ask him next.

“Can you get my vision back?” she looked down, even if wherever she looked at, she would be surrounded by the darkness. Unless the Doctor would be able to fix her.

“Come on,” he wrapped one arm around her waist and grabbed her right hand. He held her steady, talking her through every and each step she’d take. Their bodies moved in perfect synch, one fitting the other as if they were one only. Besides the huge height difference, they held onto each other for dear life.

The Doctor guided her into the infirmary, picking her small form by the armpits and sitting her in the bed that hang higher in the air than normal ones. He made a mental note to tell the TARDIS later to lower it down, at least enough to allow Clara to sit by herself if she ever got hurt again.

Normally, she would pick up a fight over his actions, but right then, she was too tired to argue. Not to mention that she feared falling over if he weren’t there to guide her.

He placed his finger next to the wound in her forehead, causing her to flinch back. “Nasty cut you’ve got there.”

She jerked back. “It doesn’t bother me that much.”

He smiled at her brave façade. “I’ll make it not bother at all,” he said, passing some of his regeneration energy to her with not effort. Even if she didn’t have her sight, the way how fast the cut stopped to hurt made her sure of what he had done.

“You shouldn’t have wasted your regeneration energy on me,” she argued, a disapproval look on her face, one she knew the Doctor couldn’t stand.

“It barely cost me a few months of life, I’ll get over it,” he avoided the eye contact, still not quite sure how she made her eyes so big. Then, he said in front of her. “Okay, I’m going to stablish a mental link between me and you, so I can find the image of the Krileons on your mind and delete it.”

Clara nodded. “Will that work?”

He sighed. “Hopefully.”

The Doctor placed his fingertips on each side of her temples and Clara closed her eyes. His touch was gentle, careful, as if he were afraid of hurting her, even if she knew he would never. Her heart pulsed slowly in her chest, she was trying to focus on anything rather than the possibilities, so she focused herself on him, on his breathing pattern, on his tender touch against her smooth skin.

“This won’t hurt a bit,” he told her, doubting if she trusted him or not. He had a face of lying in situations like this. “Just make sure to lock away all the thoughts you don’t want me to see.”

“Oi! This is not a field trip over my memories!” she boycotted him, without actually moving a single muscle rather than her lips.

“I never said it was!” he shouted back at her and she opened her mouth to say something, but he hushed her. “Silence now, we can talk about your humiliating memories after I go through them.”

Clara gave him a face, but didn’t utter a word. She breathed in an out peacefully, suddenly feeling a wave going through her brain, like something hacking it. It didn’t hurt, for once in his life he was telling her the truth.

The Doctor gently fussed through her subconscious, seeing all of her memories of love, of happiness, of sorrow. He went right past them, not wanting to disturb her privacy any more than he already had. He focused in finding the memory of the Krileons.

Once he did, he used his magical fingers to remove it from her mind. Their physical contact lasted a little longer, neither one of them wanting to break the touch, to interrupt such a bond they were holding. Inevitably, he pulled apart from her eventually.

“So, this is it?” she pondered, still feeling his breath on her face.

He nodded, only then realizing she had her eyes shut. “Yes.”

“What happens now?”

“Well, you open your eyes,” he answered drily, the tenderness hidden somewhere beneath his Scottish accent.

Clara agreed, but her eyes remained closed. “Did it work?”

“Hopefully, we won’t know until you open them,” he didn’t bother lying to her.

“But if it didn’t…” she took a longer breath. “…then it’s all over. We won’t travel together anymore. You will drop me on Earth and you will take off. Never looking back, just running towards the stars, just like we used to, because who would need a blind woman as their companion, always holding them back and-“

The Doctor placed his finger atop of her lips, stopping her futile words. “Clara, I would never leave you behind.”

She shook her head slightly, his finger still pressed against her wet lips. “I wouldn’t want you to carry me around, not like this, not like I’m a burden”

His hand moved from her lips to caress her hair. “Oh, Clara Oswald, you’d never be a burden. I’d gladly take you to the end of time, the end of space, just to hear your voice, to hear your laugh, I’ll describe every single star we pass by, just so I can see the smile on your face.”

Her cheeks blushed, but a small grin appeared in the corner of her mouth. “I’m scared, Doctor.”

“I am, too,” he confessed, moving his hand to hold hers. “But I’ll be here,” she nodded at him. “We’ll be together till the end of times, and, Clara, we can conquer the universe when we’re together.”

Clara smiled, and then, finally, she opened her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I felt like this was a good place to call it off. I know that's a hell of cliffhanger I left there, but it just felt like an ending that your own mind should construct. Maybe, sometime in the far future, I will add an epilogue to this, but for now, this is it. Thank you all for finding the time to read and leave comments and kudos, you all keep me going :)


End file.
